If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

I'm a big guy and with a 30° hang with my weight 200 lbs of tension is possible.

Am I in danger of catastrophic headfirst midnight dismount (CMHD)?

Polecat

If my math isnīt totally wrong the tension on your line (with a 30° hang and weighing 200 lbs) would be 400 lbs.
If the poly rope can take a load of 1980 lbs that would give you a safety of approx 1:5.
Thatīs (for me) enough.

But, and theres always one, is that the rope might be difficult to handle, it might not be weather-resistant and so on.
But, test it, and let us know how it works.

Says me, who is thinking in the same direction.....
(Because I canīt get any Amsteel Blue where I live)

No longer with a great "Yukon Yak Fever"

The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)

For what its worth, Ive had straps (cheap and effective ) rope and now some pre-made woopies ( in max length so I could diy some nacrabiners from the running end!)

As a comment on previous posts, at the risk of being off topic:

Being a DIY kinda guy, I like making my own stuff and being somewhat self-reliant. I can weld, swing a spanner, do woodwork and so on. Not everyone is like this. I build my own gear to give me pleasure, not cos it's always cheaper and definately not coz it's time efficient. This is why there are people who make "budget" alky stoves and cottage guys who make the "niche" equipment. If you dont like it, dont buy it....simple. However, there is always someone who feels that their time and effort is better spent doing what they do well, to earn the $$$ to pay someone else to do what they do well.

This forum has been a breath of fresh air for me on the Net. To find such a broad, unbiased collection of info and good honest feedback (a lot of it from the people who's "gear" we are building DIY) is a rare thing.

Sorry for the essay, but I'd hate to see this blow out into a big deal over a very small difference of opinions

HYOH ...... Browny

I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives.

I used 3/8 in, hollow braid polypropylene line for a good while. I did not use it with as a whoopie sling so I don't know how well it works for that. A simple slippery bowline knot held and released fine which makes adjustments pretty easy to do. A slippery bowline knot words so well with that rope that I don't know that I would worry about making a whoopie sling with it. Whoopie slings are neat for hammock suspensions but they have their negatives as well. One thing is that you use a lot more rope, about twice as much. And when you have it adjusted to its minimum length you have a lot of excess rope hanging off, in the way. With small diameter AmSteel that isn't near the problem it will be with bulkier, heavier, and springier polypropylene.

It is nice that you can find it at practically any hardware store and for a reasonable price. What I don't like about it is it stretches continually during the night, which is something you can deal with but once you use a suspension that doesn't stretch like that you probably won't be happy with one that does. I typically ended up 6 inches or so lower to the ground in the morning with the polypropylene line. But heck, it works, is easy to get, and doesn't cost much; sometimes that's all you want.

What I don't like about it is it stretches continually during the night, which is something you can deal with ...

That's the "walking" I was referring to... after stretching a small amount, polypropylene walks, in that it no longer rebounds or recovers 100%. The result of walking is narrowing; it's kind of a permanent stretch. If the load is enough to cause it to walk, it can eventually lead to failure, as each time you hang it walks a little further.

Of course, we probably have lots of hangers here who will say that they have hung for years with light, braided polypropylene, without any problems!

That's the "walking" I was referring to... after stretching a small amount, polypropylene walks, in that it no longer rebounds or recovers 100%. The result of walking is narrowing; it's kind of a permanent stretch. If the load is enough to cause it to walk, it can eventually lead to failure, as each time you hang it walks a little further.

Of course, we probably have lots of hangers here who will say that they have hung for years with light, braided polypropylene, without any problems!

I think that the stretch under tension of all ropes leads to failure and is why over the years I have brought up my concerns of people tying too low on the trees and repeatedly retightening with some of the suspension adjustments that allow them to pull the suspension very taut. (I have wondered if a certain load caused a certain amount of stretch and it was the specific stretch that caused the failure rather than a specific load causing a failure. If a load was hanging straight down that argument would be mute; but with our horizontal loading that is reduced by stretching under some initially tremendous loading and can be retightened and stretched again before it has recovered, that may not be a mute point.)

I used the 3/8 hollow braid polypropylene for a few years without any problems, but without a structural ridgeline and have know of quite a few others that have as well. I don't know what Clark Hammocks is using these days but at one time they used 3 twisted stands of polypropylene rope, 1/4 on some and maybe 3/8 on others? I didn't like the 3 strands on my home made hammock because I had the strands separate enough where I had tied and released a slippery bowline that it looked like only 2 strands might take the load, and I didn't like that.

If my math isnīt totally wrong the tension on your line (with a 30° hang and weighing 200 lbs) would be 400 lbs.
If the poly rope can take a load of 1980 lbs that would give you a safety of approx 1:5.
Thatīs (for me) enough.

But, and theres always one, is that the rope might be difficult to handle, it might not be weather-resistant and so on.
But, test it, and let us know how it works.

Says me, who is thinking in the same direction.....
(Because I canīt get any Amsteel Blue where I live)

Hmm, I have to quote myself since Iīve got some corrections about my math...
The tension of 400 lbs is on BOTH lines which means that the tension on each line is 200 lbs. That means that the safety is 1:10.

But as someone said to me there are knots and other things that will make the line less strong which means that 1:10 is if the knots are perfect and there isnīt anythin as a perfect knot

Still you should be able to use that line and sleep safe during the night!

No longer with a great "Yukon Yak Fever"

The ships hung in the sky in much the same way that bricks don't (The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy)

even better when you consider the strength to weight ratio of each, and then compare the strength to cost/foot of each one. Amsteel may cost more per foot, but less per unit of weight supported and less (I think) per ounce. certainly less per cubic inch occupied in the pack.
Win, Win, Win!
KM (who hopes that helped some..)